Brothers Doug and David Blank discuss the issues of the day. One is a Christian, ER doctor, and member of the tea party; the other is an atheist, computer scientist, and liberal arts professor. How did this happen, and what do they have to say?

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

The New World Order

David:
My, how time flies.

Doug:
I have to agree with you on that! I can't believe that I have been at Bryn Mawr College for 15 years.

David:
And I finished medical school 25 years ago.
I remember a clinical rotation I had as a 4th-year medical student. I was working with a nationally-renowned ophthalmologist in Denver, CO. During the rotation, I noticed a young woman who was always in the office, and went to the ER with us when we were called for emergencies. She went to lunch with us, and even waited outside the operating suite when we did surgeries. But, for the life of me, I couldn't see that she actually performed any job. Nothing.

The ophthalmologist also worked a few days a month at a Native-American reservation, and on the way there, we stopped for lunch at a diner. While we were eating, I finally found out what her job was. The phone rang.

Not just any phone, mind you. It was a satellite phone. The great big ones that came with a twenty pound battery pack that you carried like a suitcase with a shoulder strap. This ophthalmologist had the first portable phone I had ever seen, and his assistant's job was to lug it around so he never missed a call. That was her only job.Doug:
You couldn't get a job these days for carrying someone's phone. Well, maybe you could for a Kardashian.

David:
She had a great sense of humor.

Doug:
Kim? Khloe? Kourtney? Or, you mean the assistant had a great sense of humor. I see.

David:
Just a few years ago, we saw the advent of a new world. We are now surrounded by amazing science-fiction technology that didn't exist even ten years ago, but now we can't live without. Most of us can't even begin to think what it would be like without having our phone with us at all times, or being able to surf the web at any time. For many, it's a form of addiction.

Ten years ago, the top corporations in the world were mainly big oil companies. Now, they have been replaced with technology corporations. What do you think this means in the big picture, and how will this affect the world moving forward?

Doug:
It isn't just that phones have gotten smaller---they aren't phones any more! They are computers. Computers that can act as your phone, camera, and all of the other things that computers can do. Cell phones are so much more powerful than desktop computers just a decade ago.

David:
The average cell phone today has more computing power than all of NASA did in 1969, when they sent men to the moon. That's why I have trouble understanding why NASA has such trouble reproducing that act today.

Doug:
Getting a person on the Moon was an amazing feat. But I suspect that the computation played a smaller role than compared to the rest of the systems. No doubt, it was a lot of code (written in assembly, a low-level language), written by just a few people, and was an amazingly difficult task. But today, on the other hand, computation is responsible for so much more. The more lines of code you have (and the more systems and people), the more chances for errors. I suspect that much of the difficulty today is between systems and subsystems.

David:
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon (number 4 on the list), has been using his billions to advance the course of space travel with his Space X program. Now that NASA has become a bloated, bureaucratic, government agency, private investment may be the way to return us to the stars.

Doug:
I doubt private companies are going to fill our space needs for one simple fact: there is little money to be made. This is exploratory science.

David:
Unless you charge money, like the Russians. Then it's a business.

Doug:
Of course, as a computer scientist, I am not surprised to see tech companies move to the top of the corporation list, replacing oil and energy companies. But the mobile computer revolution (as opposed to the computer revolution) is just getting underway. Much of the programming for mobile computers hasn't been focused on productivity. But as mobile computers begin to completely replace your desktop and laptop computers, you'll begin to see them do more.

Combined with cameras and geographical awareness (such as location and gyroscopic movements) these new mobile computers will be able to become a part of our lives unlike desktop or laptops ever could. You ain't seen nothing yet.

David:
How long until we see a virtual screen similar to the movie Minority Report, or billboards around town that are tailored to you as you walk by?

Doug:
Not long, unfortunately. Advertising is already targeting you as an individual, probably more than you know. Most of the technology is already in place, in one form or another. Face recognition can work, if you don't shave your mustache.

Of course I worry about security and privacy, and what Big Business could do with this our information against our better judgement. I don't think our laws have caught up with the technology, which isn't surprising. Computer speeds have grown at an exponential rate (doubling every year or two). We don't have too much experience with such growth curves. This is going to be an exciting (and possibly scary) time.

David:
You worry about what Big Business will do with the information, while I worry what Big Government will do....in the name of "helping people", no doubt.
In looking over the list of corporations, I also note that with Amazon, Google (Alphabet), and Facebook, many people have absolutely no reason to leave their homes. You can order food from the grocery, and have it delivered. You can spend countless (mainly unproductive) hours surfing the web, and numerous studies have indicated that Facebook and Twitter are eroding our humanity and culture. While new capabilities, like having every piece of information available at a keystroke, have the promise of making us better and more knowledgeable, the reverse appears to be happening.

Doug:
You should listen to yourself... you sound like a grumpy grandfather! Eroding our humanity? No wonder you think we need to make America great again... you think the world is falling apart because it is different from the way that you grew up. On the contrary, I meet new people every week from all around the world because of technology like Facebook and Twitter. And I leave my home more often because of new technology too. Mapping and podcast software makes traveling much better, for example.

David:
Sure, things are so much better than they were in the past, and technology plays the driving role in our lives now. Can you imagine trying to get around without GPS and Google Maps? However, numerous studies show that the social media aspects of using that technology are making people dumber, more racist, less optimistic, more anxious, and even contributing to mental illness.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/275361.php

Doug:
Medical News Today says social media is bad? I think you might want to take a closer look at such studies.

David:
You probably shouldn't argue with me about medical studies. I'll give you the nod when it comes to computer information.
And as computers and automation continue to replace workers, what will the populace be doing to earn money in the future? We may have a lot of neat stuff, that only Mark Zuckerberg can purchase.

Doug:
Yes, the same old worries throughout time. What will the Pony Express riders do? What will the lumberjacks do? What will the factory workers do? There are always new jobs available. Until the robots and the artificial intelligence programs are in place, but we'll save that discussion for another week.

David:
I'll have to give you that point.
Some of these mega-tech corporations are run by a very few individuals. In the past, big oil was demonized for their lobbying efforts. I don't see that big-tech will be any different. A few individuals could manage what information we see, and what news is available to us.

Doug:
Big tech is not any different in terms of lobbying to get what they want. They are different in that they need a lot of employees, and they generally don't care about conservative social issues. They want all of their employees to be happy, wherever they live. That includes LBGTQ employees. On the other hand, they will spend big bucks to attempt to sway congress on technological issues (such as net neutrality). But if you want to have a huge impact as an individual, become CEO of a television group like Roger Ailes did. It sure is good to see him out of the loop. I think he has done more damage to the world than any single person ever has.

David:
That is just my point. A great deal of control in the hands of a single individual, who controls news and media, as well as advertising that is tailored just to you, is a bad thing. You only see FoxNews as bad, because you disagree with conservatism. But there are multiple other liberal news sites to compete with it.

Doug:
No, I see FoxNews as bad because everything they "report" on has a non-truth-based spin to it. I like my news un-spun. I don't know of any other news agency that has given so much control to their CEO.

The corporations that are now leading the "biggest corporations" list are all under control of a very few individuals, with little competition, and little oversight. Oil companies didn't have brain-washing Americans, and the rest of the world, as part of their agenda. I've spent much less time on FB after it was revealed that they were manipulating posts to control the thinking of their "customers", and manipulating the news feed to eliminate conservative views.

Doug:
Well, you should stay home, close the curtains, and turn off all devices if you want to avoid being manipulated. Or just be aware of it coming from all directions.

David:
I don't ascribe to a view that the government needs to intervene in some way, however. But there needs to be the same transparency in these mega-corporations that other corporations have had to endure at the government's hands in the past. That's where a conservative news organization becomes valuable; To make sure when a mega-corporation engages in bad behavior, the public has a way to learn about it.

Doug:
I think that was a NYTimes article you linked to above about Facebook, not FoxNews. But I do agree that we need a strong Fourth Estate. Our freedom depends on it. Support your local news, especially! We need people to investigate these issues everywhere and everyday, and citizen journalism can only do so much.

David:
Which brings up a different question. How is it that President Obama and Hillary Clinton are not promising to confiscate all of the money that Bezos, Zuckerberg, and the other liberal multi-billionaires are making? Instead of Bill Gates putting his cash in a liberal foundation, he should be sending it to Washington for them to spend. Bezos shouldn't be spending money to develop space travel. He should be sending it all to Washington so they can do great and wondrous things with it. After all, isn't that what you and Clinton have been saying all along? Or is the goal only to increase taxes on successful business people like the (conservative) Koch brothers?

Doug:
You live in a sad little bubble. Now, go try to catch some Pokemon! Gotta catch em all!

David:
Apparently, only one of us lives in reality. Have fun with your make-believe friends in your make-believe world. Maybe your Pokemon can balance a Federal Budget?

Now, another article showing how a corporation with political power can place itself on the "rules committee" just like the railroad tycoons did in the 1890's to squash smaller railroads out of existence. It's no wonder Trump still has a large following. Washington appears corrupt!http://watchdog.org/265844/google-obama-revolving-door/